Subscribe To

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

$20 Chemical Neuters

A local television station recently ran a story about a "new" chemical neutering agent for dogs. I believe it's called "Zeuterine." I didn't see the story, but I've been told that it claimed that male dogs could be "neutered" with this product for about $20. Understandably, I have received quite a few inquiries about this since the story ran. Here is my response to one such inquiry, as posted on Facebook:

A very similar (maybe even the same thing?) injection was marketed to veterinarians several years ago called "Neutersol." It is a caustic agent, which, when injected into the testicles, causes them to necrose (it destroys the tissue). It had a lukewarm reception after more vets started using it. There were/are two main drawbacks: it decreases testosterone levels only about half as much as neutering (many dog-owners neuter their dogs to decrease testosterone-driven behaviors), and a portion of the dogs developed complications such as abscesses and self-mutilation - some of these had to be subsequently neutered. My humble opinion is that it is a very useful tool for decreasing dog overpopulation in third-world countries, and even poverty-stricken areas in the US. It is not something we will use for our clients' pets for the reasons stated above. Once this injection starts being more widely used, we will know a lot more. Maybe it will be a significant upgrade from it's predecessor, but that's not what I'm hearing yet. Stay tuned...